Rohit's hat-trick seals Deccans' win

Though there was rain in the morning, pleasant conditions were seen at the Centurion when Adam Gilchrist and Sachin Tendulkar were in the middle for the toss. Gilchrist won the toss and he elected to bat first. There were two changes in the Deccans team - Ravi Teja came in for VVS Laxman and Harmeet Singh replaced the injured Pragyan Ojha. Meanwhile, Mumbai had three changes in their team - Ajinkya Rahane made way for Rohan Raje while Dhawal Kulkarni replaced the injured Zaheer Khan and Saurabh Tiwary came in for Shikhar Dhawan.

Mumbai had a good start with the ball when the dangerous Gibbs was out to Dhawal Kulkarni in the second over. Suman came in at number three and started off with some good strokes. However, his innings did not last long as he was dismissed by Dwayne Bravo. Meanwhile, Gilchrist was playing a steady role, ensuring that Hyderabad did not lose more wickets. Rohit Sharma gave him good company as the pair piled on the runs at a decent rate. Just when things were looking good for the Deccans, Gilchrist tried to slog across the line and was bowled by Raje in the 10th over. Hyderabad were at an unsteady position, going into the break at 63/3.

Post break, the hard hitting Dwayne Smith joined Rohit Sharma as the duo were trying to build a partnership. However, the West Indian was sent back to the dug-out after being bowled by Jayasuriya in the 13th over. Meanwhile, Rohit Sharma was playing diligently, trying to get Hyderabad to a reasonable score. However, a superb catch by Bravo during a Malinga over, resulted in the dismissal of Rohit Sharma. Venugopal Rao hit a couple of boundaries towards the end before he was run-out in the last over. Hyderabad finished the 20 overs at a resonable score of 145/6.

A good bowling effort was the order of the day for Hyderabad, defending a target of 145. RP Singh got the team off to a dream start, dismissing the dynamic opening pair of Jayasuriya and Tendulkar off consecutive deliveries. The pair of Duminy and Pinal Shah started the rescue work. With a combination of excellent stroke-play and delicate shots the duo reached their fifty partnership. However, the partnership was broken when Pinal Shah attempted a slog sweep off Suman, only to find Dwayne Smith latch on to a catch at long-on. Mumbai went into the 'Strategy Break' at 71/3 requiring 75 more runs to win off 60 balls.

Duminy and Bravo resumed the chase after the break. The pair put on quick runs as they were closing in on the required target. Hyderabad came back by taking the wicket of Bravo. An attempted big one off Suman went wrong for Bravo and he holed out to Harris. Meanwhile Duminy brought up his fifty off just 45 balls.

More success was in store for the Deccans when Rohit Sharma dismissed Nayar and Harbhajan Singh of consecutive deliveries and ended the over on a hat-trick. Rohit Sharma started the 18th over with Mumbai at 108/6 requiring 38 runs to win of 18 balls. The action packed over saw Duminy attempting to go for a big one over square-leg. However, the ball caught the glove and went straight into the hands of Adam Gilchrist. Rohit Sharma claimed his first ever hat-trick while Mumbai's chances of a victory was getting dimmer. Rohit Sharma got his fourth wicket in the same over dismissing Saurabh Tiwiri. The purple cap holder RP Singh finished off the last over, giving away just 5 runs.

Hyderabad emerged victors by 20 runs thanks to the early break-throughs by RP Singh who dismissed the dangerous combo of Tendulkar and Jayasuriya, and a dream hat-trick towards the end by Rohit Sharma.

Post Match Quotes:

Tendulkar: Pinal batted really well, he got the scoreboard ticking but just those in between overs where we lost wickets and didn't score many runs...that cost us. The rest of the guys need to lift ourselves. I thought the ball was coming on nicely, 150 was a possible target.

Gilchrist: It seems that the total (145) has been competitive right across the country. Great fighting by the guys at the end of the batting innings. The guys planned well to bowl at the end and to protect the short boundary. Its a big win for us. Plenty of character from everyone tonight. Rohit was 'outstanding' and 'unbelievable'.

Rohit Sharma: It was not an easy wicket. The ball was stopping and coming. I was very confident of my bowling at the international level. I work on my bowling very hard in the nets and I'm happy it came out today with a hat-trick.

Trivia:

Herschelle Gibbs got out for a duck today. This was his second duck on the trot and overall his third duck of the IPL

Pinal Shah and JP Duminy put up 59 runs for the third wicket today and this is the highest third wicket partnership for the Mumbai Indians in the IPL till date.

Jean Paul Duminy registered his third IPL fifty today. He is now the highest run-getter for the Mumbai Indians in this season.

Rohit Sharma becomes the second bowler after Yuvraj Singh this season to pick up a Hat-trick.

Rohit Sharma registered his best bowling figures in IPL ever. His bowling figures of 4 for 6 from 2 overs is also the second best figures in this season so far.

RP Singh regains the Purple Cap by picking up 2 wickets today. His total now moves up to 15 wickets.